Automobile customization is a strong tradition since the time motorized vehicles were invented in the early 1900's, especially among younger adults. As a consequence, there are numerous illuminating systems found in the prior art.
Novelty vehicle lighting items have become very popular because of their ability to enhance the appearance of vehicles. In the past, lights were attached to vehicles only for purposes of visibility enhancement and safety. But now, lights are also used on vehicles for convenience and aesthetic purposes. For example, lights are now used as door lights, interior mirror lights, reading lights, etc.
There are numerous systems and devices for producing visual images and displaying visual data on vehicle rims in the art. One such technology employs one or more light emitting diodes (LED, or LEDs) which are operationally programmable, so that when the vehicle rim rotates, the LEDs (along with the rotation) rapidly engage and illuminate and blend to visually appear to a bystander as a design, artwork, or an image. This effect is known as “persistence of vision”, and is also known as “scanning.” Using this technology, electronic information about the image to be displayed is used to synchronize the illumination of the various LEDs at certain times during the rotation to create the image.
LED technology appears to be the prominent source of lighting for vehicles and for vehicle rims. For example, decorative LED lighting systems have been used on vehicles on a number of instances. U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0223243 A1 (Miller) discloses an illuminating vehicle wheel device with LEDs mounted on a circuit board, which is then mounted to a vehicle wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,042 (Reim) discloses a system for providing illuminated displays on a vehicle wheel having LEDs mounted on a tire and also having a vehicle rim to display lighted messages. U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,928 (Khan) discloses a lighted wheel rim system having a wheel body with voids, so that LEDs and a battery are mounted within the voids. U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,041 (Olds et al.) discloses a system for directing a short burst of bright light onto rotating indicia on a vehicle wheel which makes the indicia on the rotating wheel appear to be stationary. U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,979 (Byrd et al.) discloses a wheel illumination device having a brush assembly in electrical contact with concentric conductor rings on a slip ring assembly mounted to the wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,237 (Lee) discloses a lighted wheel rim system having LEDs mounted within the rim of a tire. U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,763 (King) discloses a wheel illumination device requiring no external power and using magnetic and rotational forces to power the LEDs, however, such a system is inoperable as an illumination source when the wheels are not rotating. Other LED illumination systems for vehicles are found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,717,579 (Huang), U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,144 (DiMaggio), U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,516 (Chastain), U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,877 (Powell et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,301 (Martinez et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,707 (Bailey Jr.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,427 (Gloodt et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,296,918 (Davydyuk et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,733 (Gordon), U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,458 (Wang) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0274085 (Hampton).
Another popular lighting option for vehicle rims is through the use of fiber optic technology. Examples of fiber optic technology illumination systems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,692 (Papadakis), U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,194 (Currie), U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,400 (Currie) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,839 (Lee).
Similarly, luminous display devices, as detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,295 to Strattman, are widely used for decorative or attention-grabbing purposes. The most common are those which comprise a simple or complex length of tubing filled with an inert gas such as neon, argon, mercury vapor, or mixtures thereof. Further, flat display devices serve as lighted signs having at least one transparent surface which may be masked to create letters, figures, or characters. Generally, these include two flat plates which are spaced from each other to form a chamber which is evacuated and then filled with the desired inert gas. Electrodes are arranged in such a manner as to setup a discharge path or paths in the chamber, and voltage is applied to cause ionization of the gas to produce a plasma color display. The primary object of the present invention is the use of the luminous plasma display device within the rim of a wheel to include the enabling requisite technologies. These technologies include the novel and synergistic incorporation of a dual slip ring design with ring ball bearing technology and a ballast to facilitate preclusion of the display's motion while indirectly mounted to a rotating axle, the protective coating placed over the display and the display being countersunk to the outer-most face of the tire's rim both to protect against environmental and road hazards.
Flat neon displays are also popular in the novelty products industry for the stunning visual effects produced, which resemble electrical lightning. Plasma displays typically employ two or more confronting (face-to-face) plates wherein a cavity is formed between the plates. The cavity is contiguously attached to a gas entry port incorporating a set of electrodes. In the manufacturing process, the cavity is evacuated of any air and a quantity of ionizable gas, such as neon, is injected under pressure and temperature into the cavity through the gas entry port which is then ideally hermetically sealed (so that the desired ionizable gas remains within the hermetically sealed, vacuum-tight cavity). The pressurized gas is then ionized by applying a voltage across the electrode set connected to the display, and when sufficient voltage and frequency is applied, the ionized gas is energized to ground potential to cause the gas to ionize through the natural surrounding capacitance between the ionized gas and ground potential, resulting in an appearance of a glow. This well-known phenomenon is discussed briefly, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,574 (Garjian) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,278 (Iannini).
Furthermore, attempts to provide illumination to automobile wheels have also been described in the patent literature. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,643,593 to Styer et al, an electric lamp is arranged between a pair of wheel spokes. U.S. Pat. No. 2,526,548 to Franklin discloses an electric light mounted in the hub cap of each rear wheel of a vehicle and connected with the regular lightning system of such vehicle, the light being directed by a reflector through two series of openings in the hub cap. U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,401 to Bell describes illumination means for automobile wheels comprising translucent plastic spinner provided with an electrical bulb and mounted on the central portion of the conventional metallic hub cap, the bulb being connected to the car battery. U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,727 to Bradway covers a lighting system for automobile hub caps having lamp sockets grounded to hub caps for holding incandescent bulbs and connected electrically to the automobile battery. U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,389 to Senseman shows a lighted automobile wheel cap provided with a light bulb mounted along the central axis of the wheel cap and receiving electrical power through a spring-loaded brush assembly connected to the power source. While the aforementioned patents disclose either
While all of the prior art displays are capable of providing relatively simple displays, none of the prior art devices are capable of providing a lightning-like effect within a vehicle's rim or tire assembly. Moreover, the geometry of all prior art planar devices have some object or component mounted at the center of the circle of rotation that blocks the presence of any illuminating element, thereby leaving a circular black or blank “hole” in the middle of the display, so that the entire display panel is not used for illumination. This geometric limitation problem, which is solved by the present invention, provides another reason why images (either text or designs) are displayed in a manner as to “twist” around the center of rotation.
Plasma typically is defined as “a hot ionized gas containing roughly equal quantities of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons.” Plasma is considered a fourth state of matter that is different from solids, liquids, and gases. Thus, for example, a plasma ball (also sometimes called a plasma globe, lamp, dome, or sphere) is a clear glass ball filled with a mixture of noble gases with a high-voltage electrode at its center. Plasma filaments extend from the electrode to the glass when electricity is supplied, creating fascinating beams of colored light. The electrode at the center of a plasma ball emits a high-frequency, high-voltage alternating electric current. This current flows through the plasma filaments to create colorful tendrils of light, to visually create a lightning effect. The colors of the tendrils depend upon the gases used inside the plasma ball, but commonly used gases in plasma balls include neon, argon, xenon, and krypton, or a combination of these elements.
The plasma ball (or, plasma globe) was invented by Nikola Tesla when he was experimenting with high-frequency electric currents in a glass vacuum tube (which is why the electrode at the center of a plasma ball is also often referred to as a Tesla coil). In U.S. Pat. No. 514,170 (“Incandescent Electric Light”, 1894), Tesla discloses a plasma lamp. Here, Tesla used an incandescent-type lamp globe with a single internal conductive element and excited the element with high voltage currents from a Tesla coil, thus creating the brush discharge emanation. He gained patent protection on a particular form of the lamp in which a light-giving small body or button of refractory material is supported by a conductor entering a very highly exhausted globe or receiver. Tesla called this invention the single terminal lamp, or, later, the “Inert Gas Discharge Tube.” The modern version of the plasma ball was designed by Bill Parker in 1970, and uses a mixture of xenon, krypton, neon and other gases to create the vivid colors and complex patterns typically seen in the plasma ball novelty device.
Therefore, a need exists in the art to provide an illumination system, apparatus and/or insert for use within a vehicle's rim which is untraditional and does not require the use of any form of a LED. The present invention solves this need, as the present invention substantially departs from the prior art's use of traditional LED technology to illuminate a vehicle's rim, and in doing so, provides an aesthetically appealing and highly entertaining pattern of lightning effects on the vehicle rim. The resulting plasma reaction is phototropic, stimulating and aesthetically pleasing to the human eye.
As such, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new, unique ornamental illuminating display system, apparatus and/or insert for use within a vehicle's rim or wheel.
It is another principal object of the present invention to provide an illuminating inert gas-filled plasma disk or plate assembly for use within and/or on vehicle wheels which is operable on nearly any type of vehicle rim or wheel. It is also an object of the invention to provide such an assembly which may be readily mounted on and dismounted from vehicles and vehicle wheels.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new, unique apparatus, system and/or device for illuminating vehicle wheels.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a non-LED luminous display system, apparatus and/or insert especially adapted for retrofitting into existing vehicles.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new lighting device for vehicle rims or wheels which the advantages of the prior art while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated with the prior art solutions.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new lighting device for vehicle wheel assemblies for illuminating the outer portion of a wheel, and more particularly, illuminating the vehicle's rim.
It is a further object of the present to employ control circuitry adapted to control arcing between any electrical contacts and which compensates for an electrical shortage through the discharge of electricity into the electrical system when a momentary electrical stoppage occurs.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a luminous plasma rim system which may be readily mounted and dismounted from vehicles.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a plasma rim system, which may be rigidly mounted to a vehicle, is rigid enough to withstand external forces and vibrations, and is sturdy and durable.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a new lighting or illuminating device for vehicle wheel assemblies which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art illuminating devices for wheels, either alone or in any combination thereof.